After zhao kuangyin, the grandfather of the Song Dynasty, established the Song Dynasty, he did not serve his son; but passed it on to his brothers. Emperor Taizong of Song's real name was Zhao Kuangyi, and he was the younger brother of Zhao Kuangyin. Why the throne passes on to the younger brother and not the son, there are many theories about this. Some say that this was a pact made by Taizu during his lifetime, while others believe that Emperor Taizong of Song usurped the throne. Regardless of which statement is true, in short, several sons of Song Taizu will definitely be a relatively special existence in the era of Song Taizong.
Zhao Kuangyin, the grandfather of the Song Dynasty, had four sons, the eldest son Zhao Dexiu and the third son Zhao Delin both died early. Only his son Zhao Dezhao and his fourth son Zhao Defang remained. In various novels and operas of the Yang family, the Eight Sages King is portrayed as a just and virtuous character with awe-inspiring righteousness. He was the son of Taizu, and he held the golden hammer given by Taizu (some say it was given by Emperor Taizong) and beat up the emperor and the traitor. If the biggest patron of the traitors is the emperor, then the Eight Sages are the biggest patron of the loyalist camp. Some versions of the Eight Sages in the novel opera are Zhao Defang, and some versions are Zhao Dezhao.
Neither Zhao Dezhao nor Zhao Defang was the eighth son of Song Taizu, and Song Taizu did not have eight sons at all. Therefore, the claim of the "Eight Sages" has no historical basis.
In most opera legends, the name of the Eight Sages King is Zhao Defang, so it seems that Zhao Defang should be the prototype of the Eight Sages King. However, there are also historical records that Zhao Dezhao was once deeply trusted by the taizu Zhao Kuangyin and was given a golden sword, "if the lawless belong to the special punishment." In this way, Zhao Dezhao also seems to be "suspicious".
However, if we look at the lives of these two people, we know that neither Zhao Defang nor Zhao Dezhao look like this Eight Sages King. The brothers Dezhao and Defang were the sons of Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, and according to legal system, both had the right to inherit the throne. Zhao Guangyi was very jealous of both of these brothers and was always on guard.
In 979, Zhao Guangyi personally conquered Taiyuan. One night, suddenly there was a disturbance in the camp, and the soldiers ridiculed that there was an enemy attack, looking around for Zhao Guangyi but could not find it. In a hurry, someone proposed to make Zhao Dezhao the Son of Heaven.
Despite this shocking camp incident, the Battle of Taiyuan was still won, and the soldiers were rewarded according to the rules. After the war, Zhao Dezhao asked for rewards for the generals, and Zhao Guangyi was very unhappy, and actually said: "When you become emperor, then reward them." Zhao Dezhao was shocked to hear this, knowing that his uncle could not accommodate himself in his eyes, so he committed suicide. He was only twenty-nine years old when he died.
Two years after Zhao Dezhao's death, in 981 AD, Zhao Defang also fell ill and died. Qi Defang was even younger when he died, only twenty-three years old.
Yang Ye was surrendered to the Song Dynasty in 979 AD, and died in battle in 986 AD. Before Yang Ye's death, these two sons of Song Taizu had already died, and of course it was impossible to avenge the Yang family in the future.
The so-called eight dry years are actually just a psychological need for people to punish good ministers and maintain loyalty. There is no character in history who can be clearly used as the prototype of the Eight Sages, although Zhao Defang is mostly used as the Eight Sages In the opera novels, but this is only a borrowing of Zhao Defang's name.
Since the Eight Sages In the novel are Yu Shi Wuzai, isn't the camp of the Yang family generals too thin? Don't worry, at least the prime minister Kou Zhun is still a real person.
The legendary Kou Zhun, nicknamed "Kou Lao Xi'er", was an honest, incorruptible, witty, humorous official, and when Song Taizong heard that he was good at judging cases, he transferred him to the capital and asked him to interrogate the pan and Yang families. Kou Zhun was not afraid of the powerful and used his wisdom and wisdom when trying the case, and finally concluded that Pan Renmei was guilty and rehabilitated Zhaoxue for the Yang family. After that, Kou Zhun used his wisdom to maneuver between the emperor, the eight kings, the Yang family, and the traitors, doing his best to eliminate evil and promote good, persuade the emperor, and protect Zhongliang.
The historical Kou Zhun is indeed a famous minister of the Song Dynasty, an official to the prime minister; Kou Zhun in the novel and opera is very close to the Eight Kings Chitose, but we have also said that there is no so-called Eight Sages King in history. Moreover, at that time, when many people believed that Song Taizong should make Taizu the crown prince, Kou Zhi firmly advocated that Song Taizong make his own son the crown prince. It was precisely because of this that Song Taizong trusted Kou Zhun very much.
Because the historical Pan family and the Yang family did not have so much hatred at all, there was no so-called Pan Yang case. The story of Kou Zhun's trial is certainly not true. The most important political activity of Kou Zhun in history was to vigorously resist during the invasion of the Liao state and resist the capitulationists. In the end, although the signing of the "Alliance of The Yuanyuan" was not Kou Zhun's intention, after all, the Song Dynasty had little loss and could maintain a peaceful situation for a certain period of time. Kou Nan can be said to have contributed to the signing of the "Alliance of the Yuanyuan". However, a few years after the signing of the "Alliance of The Yuanyuan", Kou Zhun was dismissed from his post and demoted to the local government.
At present, none of the historical materials we can see directly show that Kou Zhun and the Yang family have dealt with each other. Of course, Kou Zhun, as the prime minister, sits in the center, and Yang Yanzhao guards the border pass, and there will definitely be paperwork exchanges between them. Kou Zhun and Yang Yanzhao both fought, and Kou Zhun also recommended Yang Yanzhao on the table, but whether the two had a personal relationship, we really don't know.
Because there are many stories of the Yang family, some of which are even written until the eighth and ninth generations of Yang Jiye's descendants, we cannot distinguish all the historical figures that appear in the story. In general, with the continuous expansion of the Yang family's storytelling, there are more and more fictional elements in it, and fewer and fewer archetypes can be found in history.